On Wednesday 15th October 2014, the annual SKCCU Melvin Edwards Excellence Awards ceremony was held at the St. Kitts Co-operative Credit Union Limited conference room. The Awards seeks to reward the hard work of primary school children in six grade, who sit the Test of Standards and excel to the top three positions. The top three students are invited to a ceremony along with their parents and/or guardians as well as their teachers and other essential persons who assisted in helping them to excel.

This year’s winners were no exception to those winners who came before them. The winners were –

  • Mr. Khalid Francis – 1st Place ( Immaculate Conception Catholic School)
  • Ms. Zuwena Bennet – 2nd Place (Tucker Clarke Primary)
  • Mr. Vidonje Richardson – 3rd Place – (Tucker Clarke Primary)

These children who are now all in Secondary school were delighted to receive their awards and the mother of the first place winner, Ms. Tessel Francis, articulated in a short speech her drive to ensure that her son excelled at his studies by setting a schedule for his studies and attaining past papers for him for which she took time to go over. Ms. Gabriel Bowry, who was the first place winner in 2012 also addressed the winners telling them how the awards had changed her life and caused her to strive even harder for excellence.

This year being the fifth year of the Awards existence, we were blessed with the presence of Mr. Melvin Edwards the patron of the Awards was named after. Mr. Edwards has been a true pioneer in the Credit Union Movement attaining the prestigious position of President of the World Council of Credit Unions in 1998. Fluent in French and conversant in Spanish, Edwards is known throughout the Caribbean Region for his contributions to economic competitiveness, private enterprise development, harmonized cooperative legislation and credit union expansion. A specialist in development finance and project management, he was formally trained at the St. Kitts and Nevis Grammar School, the University of the West Indies and the University of Wales, U.K. He also pursued post-graduate training at the Université de Bordeaux, the University of Minnesota and the Coady International Institute (Nova Scotia). The highlight of the ceremony was a short speech by Mr. Edwards, who was indeed delighted to see and interact with the students.

The ceremony ended with all the invited guests congratulating the students and parents/guardians for their accomplishments. It was followed by a personal donation by Mr. Edwards that would go towards future awardees. It is hoped that next year’s ceremony will be even bigger as our Nation’s children endeavour to excel in their studies.